Newsletter-523-October-2014

No. 523 OCTOBER 2014 Edited
by Vicki Baldwin

HADAS DIARY

***PLEASE NOTE***

THE DATE OF THE OCTOBER LECTURE IS 14TH OCTOBER

Tuesday 14th October, 8pmStepping into Britain. The early human
occupation of northern Europe.
Lecture by Dr. Nick Ashton of the British Museum. Fieldwork over the last ten years has pushed
back the evidence of early humans in northern Europe from 500,000 to almost a
million years ago. Sites on the East Anglian coast in particular at Pakefield
and Happisburgh have revealed evidence of stone tools associated with extinct
animal fossils and a wide range of environmental data.

In
2013 there were further discoveries at Happisburgh of human footprints, the
oldest known outside Africa. In combination the evidence allows us to
reconstruct the human habitat and examine the difficulties of dealing with
cold, long winters. Did they have clothes, shelters or fire? Did they
seasonally migrate? Or did they have functional body hair to protect them from
the cold. These questions will be addressed in the talk to provide a picture of
life a million years ago on the edge of the known world

Tuesday 11th
November, 8pmA Hamlet in Hendon – the Church Terrace site from the Mesolithic to the
21st Century. Lecture by Jacqui
Pearce. Jacqui is one of the principal
authors of our latest book, and tutor of the HADAS Finds Group whose work over
many years resulted in the publication of the 1973/74 excavations.

All the above events,
unless otherwise stated, will be held at Stephens House & Gardens (formerly
Avenue House), 17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE, starting at 8pm, with
tea/coffee and biscuits afterwards.
Non-members are welcome (£1.00).
Buses 82, 125, 143, 326 and 460 pass nearby. Finchley Central Station (Northern Line) is a
short walk away.

Fulham Palace –
volunteering opportunity 6th-24th October

This is a community archaeology project. They are looking for volunteers with
archaeological experience who can commit to 3 days minimum over the
period. Please check the website for
further details.

In their infinite wisdom, Stephens House & Garden
(formerly Avenue House) decided that given our penchant for delving into and
under the ground, we would be happier if we relocated from the Garden Room to
the basement. Actually this is a larger
and more straightforward space without the awkward nooks and crannies afforded
by the Garden Room.

The move took place the week beginning 31 August 2014 and we
are still sorting and rearranging books, files and boxes. This should be completed fairly soon and our
regular Working Party Sunday mornings restored.
We are now located at the bottom of the stairs in the car park.

The HADAS Cleaning Party.

Book Launch Jo
Nelhams

On Sunday August 3rd, the culmination of many years work was
marked appropriately at ‘The Greyhound
Pub’ in Hendon, with the official launch of the book ‘A Hamlet in
Hendon’. This tells the story of the
HADAS archaeological dig in 1973-74, which was just up the road from The
Greyhound, fulfilling Themistocles Constantinides’, our founder’s, aim of
finding proof of the Anglo Saxon origins of Hendon.

Over 40 members (including Percy Reboul who participated in
the dig), former members, contributors and guests gathered to celebrate this
tremendous event. Some had travelled many miles to be there.

There are too many contributors to mention individually, but
our thanks must go to Jacqui Pearce, our lecturer, who has taught and guided
‘The Finds Group’ since its inception, to produce this wonderful book. This
class is still going strong on Wednesday evenings from September to March and
will be looking at finds from the Arkley kiln in the next session.

‘A Hamlet in Hendon’ is the second book that has been
completed and published by ‘The Finds Group’. The first book was titled ‘The
last Hendon farm : the archaeology and history of Church End farm’.

Getting to Grips with
Pots and Pipes: the archaeology of everyday artefacts from Saxon times to Queen
Victoria - a workshop on 2nd August 2014 at Stephens House & Gardens
(Avenue House). Report by Stephen Brunning.

Since September 2001 HADAS has been running a successful
22-meeting Finds Processing evening course.
I was well aware that not everyone could commit to a full two-terms and
the idea was muted for a one day intensive workshop/study day. With Jacqui Pearce at the helm, this went
ahead in early August.

After a very slow start attracting participants, we ended up
with 15 people. Two had come down from Oxford Archaeology for the day, with a
further person from Twickenham (AOC Archaeology). Eight delegates were HADAS members.

The day was split up with two PowerPoint talks in the
morning on medieval pottery & Tudor and Stuart pottery, with a coffee break
in between and a chance to ask questions & handle finds bought in by Jacqui
from the LAARC. Attendees were also
encouraged to bring along artefacts for identification. After a buffet lunch on the terrace (a
mistake as it turned out due to a large number of flies interested in the meat
sandwiches), we had a two more talks on Georgian to Victorian pottery & An
Introduction to Clay Pipes. As in the
morning session, the afternoon talks were separated with a tea break and finds
handling. The day ended with a final
handling session, questions and evaluation.

Of the artefacts bought along by attendees, two are
particularly worthy of mention here. The first photograph is an oil jar with
the U standing for Unguentum (an ointment used to treat dry, scaly or chapped
skin), and Rosarium (a rose garden); therefore the vessel is an apothecary jar
for oil of roses. Further research is ongoing to establish its date and source. The second photograph is a Dutch Delftware
wall tile (1620-1640) as identified by Ian Betts, Ceramic Building Material
Specialist at MOLA.

Many thanks to Jacqui Pearce for a thoroughly enjoyable and
educational day!

An Update on the
former Church Farm House Museum Don
Cooper

I am sure most HADAS members will remember the reprehensible
events that took place around March 2011, when Barnet Council unilaterally
closed the museum in this lovely old grade II* listed farm house, made the
staff redundant, and sold off most of the collection of objects at auction. The
house has stood empty ever since.

However, at a meeting
on 8th September 2014 the Assets, Regeneration and Growth Committee
of Barnet Council approved a new plan for the building.

The plan is to lease the building rent free to Middlesex
University for seven years less a day and give the University £280,000 towards
the regeneration (the council’s words) of the building. The university will
take responsibility for the maintenance of the building and the grounds. The
grounds will be available to the public. The University will use the building
for educational meeting rooms and the arrangement also specifies that the
building to be made available for community use from Monday to Friday evenings
from 19.00 and on Saturday and Sunday from 0900.

The bad news is we have lost our lovely local museum, the
good news is this important local heritage asset will no longer be empty and
deteriorating, but hopefully will be looked after at least for the next seven
years.

Tally Ho! A Place to Meet – arts depot from 4th
October

An exhibition inspired by the history of
the artsdepot site, from the 19th Century Tally Ho Coach Company to
the art deco Gaumont Cinema. Artist, Jacky Oliver, will work with the community
to create a centrepiece for the exhibition which launches at artsdepot's Fun Palace Birthday Bonanza on Sat 4 Oct.

In partnership with the Finchley Society. Venue: Café Foyer

‘Predators and Prey’ – last chance to
see rare Roman mosaic from Lod, Israel Jean
Lamont

In 1996, workmen repairing a road in Lod (ancient Lydda)
uncovered a large mosaic, thought to have covered the floor of the entrance
hall or atrium of a wealthy resident 1,700 years ago. It is on display at Waddesdon Manor (NT) near
Aylesbury until 2nd November.
The exhibition has toured America and Europe, and this is its only UK
venue.

An octagonal centrepiece depicts lions and their prey,
surrounded by individual panels showing various animals, birds and sea
creatures. There are wide borders at
each end showing more marine scenes.
There are no humans, deities or seasons.
The quality and condition of the mosaic are astonishing. In addition, there are a brief introductory
video showing the discovery and lifting of the mosaic and a small exhibition of
domestic Roman artefacts which will be familiar to HADAS members – especially
as most have been borrowed from the BM!

The display is in the Stable Block. Entry is free, but non-NT members may have to
pay an entry fee to the grounds. Further
details at www.waddesdon.org.uk or
phone 01296 653226.

HADAS Kent Trip – Day 3Jim Nelhams

Tuesday
was always going to be a challenging day, visiting Dungeness and the Romney
Marsh, but we had not expected to lose half an hour stuck in traffic before
reaching our first destination at Lydd, so our visits to the church and the
local museum were slightly rushed.

DungenessAndrew Coulson

The word Dungeness is old English for
the headland (ness) beyond Denge marsh. This headland is composed of sea-borne
shingle derived by long-shore drift from the beaches of Brighton, Eastbourne,
etc. to the west. The land is very barren and very flat, probably reaching no
more than 5 foot above sea level at high tide. The annual rainfall is about 8
inches, which qualifies it as a desert. In the words of a friend of mine, “it
is the land God forgot.

Sylvia
Javes

At least
600 plant species can be found at Dungeness. This is surprising when one
considers that the area has very low rainfall, and the shingle drains very
quickly. Plants generally are adapted to the conditions by having long roots,
fleshy leaves, the ability to fix nitrogen, or a certain amount of salt
tolerance. When we were there, the wild flowers were spectacular. There were
colourful stands of Viper’s Bugloss, Yellow Horned Poppy, Valerian, Restharrow,
Wild Carrot and Sea Kale among many others. There are a few dwellings on the
peninsula, and people seem to take the view that there is no point in trying to
make a formal garden. Simply add a few rocks or driftwood and work with
whatever wild flowers come along – and this is exactly what the power station
has done outside its visitor centre.

The
flowers are important in supporting invertebrates, particularly bumble bees.
Dungeness has the very rare Short-haired bumblebee, reintroduced in 2012 after
going extinct in Britain in 1988, and also the Shrill carder bee, which was
also thought to have disappeared from the area. There was a poster about
bumblebees in the power station visitor centre, suggesting that they are trying
to be sympathetic to the environment.

Lydd ChurchMicky Watkins

Lydd
Church is so unusually large for a parish church that it is called the
Cathedral of the Marshes. It is 199 ft. long, and the tower is 132 ft. high and
visible from afar. It is built over a Romano-British basilica of the 5th
century and we could see some remaining arches of this buried in the wall in
the north west corner. It was a church in the Anglo Saxon period, but most of
the present church is medieval. As it was such a large and important church,
many fraternities and guilds met here in the 15th century. Each
guild met in a particular chapel or part of the church with their own altar and
saint.

The first
rector recorded is Peter de Winchelsea in 1283. A later rector was Thomas
Wolsey (later Cardinal Wolsey in the time of Henry VIII), but it is doubtful
whether he spent much time here as he had many parishes and, no doubt, many
tithes.

The
church was severely damaged by bombing in World War II. The chancel was
destroyed, but was well restored, leaving out the Victorian ‘improvements’. The
modern stained glass windows over the altar are very pleasing and elsewhere the
windows are mostly plain glass so that the church is flooded with light.

On the
floor and north wall there are some brasses which depict the well clothed,
well-heeled merchants of Lydd during the period between 1557 and 1616 when the
wool trade flourished. In the North Chapel there is an effigy of Sir Walter de
Meryl, a Crusader in chain mail and armour. There is also a very colourful bust
of Thomas Godfrey and above it the coats of arms of his ‘three severall wives’. He lived to see his children ‘well disposed of in marriadge into severall worthy families
& to see parents of many hopefull children to his great comfort’.
Surely the wish of all parents.

Lydd MuseumJim
Nelhams

Lydd
Museum is run by volunteers, who had kindly agreed to open it for us. It is
housed in the old fire station, and an old hand-pumped engine stands outside.
The exhibits include some interesting wheeled exhibits including a horse drawn
bus used to take passengers to the railway station. Not sufficient for a HADAS
outing.

Rather more interesting was
a large wheeled cart. Faced with the problem of bringing fish from their boats
across the shingle, special carts with wide wooden wheels were developed (see photo). The
wheels seem to owe something to the skills of a barrel-maker. In front of the cart is a wooden wheelchair.

The photo of a cart in use seems to show a lighthouse of which more next month.

And what should we find on a building next to the church? A Stephens Thermometer!

Lydd AirportJeffrey
Lesser

We passed the Rype in Lydd which is
a very large flat area, a remnant of marshland.It recalled to me the
neighbouring Lydd (Ferryfield) airfield from which my wife and I flew in 1956.
The short route Lydd-Le Touquet was flown by Silver City Airways, carrying
3 cars and up to 10 passengers. The bonnet of our Ford Anglia had to be
opened for inspection, revealing our flat camping kettle wedged on top of the
engine. My explanation was accepted that it was a quick method of having heated
water ready for boiling for tea when we stopped.

Visit to Dungeness B Power StationPatrick
McSharry

On the
third day of our trip, Tuesday 1st. July 2014 we visited the Dungeness B Power
Station. What a contrast to our visit in Canterbury on the first day. The
towering Dungeness Power Station matched Canterbury Cathedral in its
proportions, as dedicated to energy production as the latter was to prayer. As
a group we visited the award winning visitor centre which gave us the
opportunity of enjoying the interactive exhibition zone before 10 of us
embarked on a site tour to see the plant in operation with the rest of the
group going off to see the Dungeness Lifeboat Station.

The tour
itself around the plant lasted just over one and a half hours. We were all
kitted out in special clothing plus a special electronic device which allowed
us to hear (as well as communicate) all that was said to us. The plant is owned and run by EDF Energy, one
of the UK’s largest energy companies as well as being the biggest producer of
low carbon electricity. What is more EDF
Energy is one of the three largest energy companies in Europe. We learnt about
nuclear safety (always an over-riding priority), how a nuclear reactor works
and how electricity is generated. On the technical front we learnt something
about ionising radiation and nuclear waste disposal [nuclear waste products are
classified into three categories – high, intermediate and low level – based on
how radioactive they are, and this determines how they are treated]. We also discovered that an episode of Dr Who had been filmed on the site.

Our
guides for the tour were Jo and Sarah. Their fluency of delivery, their
knowledge, passion and enthusiasm was simply breath taking. More impressive was their supreme ability to
explain and reduce complex ideas and processes in accessible layman’s language.

Dungeness
B has also picked-up and learnt lessons from the tragic disaster of Fukushima
Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in Japan which flooded with sea water causing
further problems in an already dire situation. A new retaining wall has been
built around Dungeness B to prevent similar flooding, in the event of a
disaster. EDF’s commitment to safety is impressive.

Finally,
but not least, EDF has been awarded the Wildlife Trusts’ Biodiversity Benchmark
in recognition of its work to protect the unique flora and fauna of the
vegetated shingle around the Power Station .

On this
year’s HADAS excursion we have been privileged to see two different Cathedrals:
one dedicated to Spiritual power and the other to Nuclear! A memorable experience, indeed.

Dungeness Lifeboat StationAndrew
Coulson

Anyone
looking at a map of southern England would pick out the narrows where the
English Channel meets the North Sea. The distance between Dungeness and Cap
Griz Nez is about 25 miles and this strait, known as the Dover Strait, caters
for most of the mercantile shipping bound to and from Europe. The possibilities
for maritime disaster are unlimited.

The
situation was exactly the same in the 1820s and the recently formed Royal
National Lifeboat Institution decided to do something about it. In 1826, they
planted a lifeboat station at the tip of Dungeness. This lapsed from use in
1839 but was revived in 1854 and continues to the present day.

There are
presently three methods of launching a lifeboat; down a slipway from a lifeboat
house, from an anchorage in a harbour or from a beach. The Dungeness boat has
always been launched from a beach. Originally a very large, sturdy rowing boat
with mast and sails stowed and the crew aboard, mounted on a cradle if one was
available, would be pushed into the sea by horses, with the launch and recovery
crew using ropes to keep the boat facing into the seas. At this time, the women
of the community often played a prominent part in the process, as indeed they
still do. Once launched, they would take shelter and wait for the boat’s
return. Sometimes it did not. But usually it did and the then recovery part of
the process would take place.

Nowadays
things are a little different, but not entirely; mechanisation has just taken
over. The boathouse is about 100 yards from the sea and this difference is
traversed by the cradle – which holds the boat - and the tractor which pushes
it. Both items of equipment are mounted on tracks, about 4 foot wide at a
guess, running over 7 idler wheels with propulsion wheels at each end powered
by a diesel engine. I imagine the tractor is waterproofed. Top speed is about
1-2 miles per hour and the entire system, at least 60 feet long, and weighing
in the region of 40 tons with the boat on board. On reaching the sea, an arm
extends to push the boat out at the same time as the cradle bed slopes to allow
gravity to assist. The boat is usually launched bow first. The tractor driver
can launch the boat by himself if necessary. The tractor cost £1,500.000
pounds.

The boat
is a very new one, the first of the Shannon class in service. Made of fibre
reinforced plastic, it weighs 18 tons and has a crew of 6. Its capacity is 23
survivors with its self-righting facility or 79 without it. Coxswain Stuart
Adams explained how this worked. When the cabin is sealed, the air-bubble and
the low position of the heavy engines bring the boat upright.

The main
attraction of the boat is its speed. At 25 knots (30 mph), it IS fast. I
remember being told in my youth that 8 knots was the most they could do – any
faster and the crew would be washed out of it. In the Shannon class however,
the crew are all in the cabin unless the upper steering position is manned,
which is not likely when making a passage at speed in rough weather. The two
engines at 650 hp each operating twin water jets, which means that the
manoeuvrability is “phenomenal” and it can be beached without damage. The crew
are seated two by two in the cabin strapped opposite their screens. Each man has
his own position with the helmsman front left. The screens are interchangeable
and can show inter alia the radar
pictures from Dover Coastguard and the boat and cctv pictures from the boat.
The crew have headsets and intercoms.

But some
things do not change. The RNLI is strictly voluntary, as it always has been. It
exists on donations and bequests from the public. The only crew members that
may be paid are the coxswain and the engineer, whose job it is to ensure that
the engines are fully functional at all times. As there is a training launch
every fortnight and no one knows when a real call-out may come, this is a
matter of necessity. Each time the Dungeness boat is launched costs £4,500.
With 237 stations to maintain throughout the British Isles, the cost to the
RNLI is about two and a half million pounds per week. Although the crew totals
6, the number of persons trained to operate the boat is about 30. The ideal is
to have everybody trained to fulfil two or three roles on the boat, and the
same goes for the launch crew. It is, as the coxswain pointed out, worrying to
find on a call-out, that nobody present can drive the tractor. It takes 20
minutes to launch the boat from the moment that the pagers go off, and each
crew member must live within 3 miles of the boat house.

When the
station was founded, sailing ships were the bulk of the “customers”; in essence
they still are, but they no longer carry heavy goods, nor are they so big. The
introduction of lanes in the channel, constant patrolling by coast guard
vessels, radio warnings, to say nothing of international safety agreements,
have much reduced the problem, but not entirely. Nowadays the problem is yachts
and small cabin cruisers, and worst of all a basic lack of skills. This is
epitomised by a boat that was obviously in trouble and when asked what charts
they had, held up a copy of the A-Z. They were from London and hoped to sail to
Liverpool. The school summer holidays are known as “Purgatory” in the lifeboat
house.

Believing
that prevention is better than cure, the RNLI has encouraged their crews to
give talks and demonstrations of the safe way to sail and to demonstrate the
basic level of safety kit. Perhaps the most basic lesson is how to get the
lifeboat. Simple: dial 999 and ask for the coastguard. They will work out what
area is involved and alert the relevant boats. In the case of Dungeness, their
area extends from Dover westwards to Rye. Obviously they do not have to stick
to these limits – they are for guidance only.

The name
of the boat is “The Morrell”; a tribute to a very generous bequest given by Mrs
Barbara Morrell of Bromley in Kent. The full amount of the legacy was six
million pounds from which the boat and tractor cost three and a half million.
But the lifeboats have a way of supporting themselves. Last year, the Dungeness
team raised £51,000 for the rescue services and the Church, holding concerts,
bingo sessions, brass band events, etc. and acting as an information centre.

Then a
short ride to Lydia’s lighthouse, where we were to meet up again with group
one. But that’s for next month.

WHAT’S ON Eric
Morgan

Tuesday 30th
October, 8pmFinchley Society, Drawing Room, Stephens House &
Gardens (formerly Avenue House), East End Road, N3 3QE. Church
End Town Centre: Where to Next? Discussion
addressed by Dennis Pepper. Also
feedback from Finchley in Bloom and a picture quiz. Non-members £2. Further details to September newsletter.